Reynoldsburg voters will see tax hike request in November

Reynoldsburg voters will see an income-tax issue on the November ballot.

Reynoldsburg City Council on July 22 approved two tax issues — a measure to put a 1-percent income-tax increase on the ballot and a 50-percent reduction in the city income-tax credit.

Residents will vote in November on the 1-percent income-tax increase, but the tax-credit reduction would raise taxes without voter approval for the 80 percent of employed residents who work outside Reynoldsburg and pay income taxes to another municipality. Those residents would pay a 0.75-percent income tax to the city on top of whatever they pay the city where they work.

Council president Doug Joseph wrote on his public Reynoldsburg City Council President Facebook page after the meeting, “Reynoldsburg City Council voted tonight for not one but two income tax increases. As President of Council, I did not get to vote but I am very opposed to them. They will hammer cash-strapped families and discourage job-generating businesses from locating in the city. A very sad day for the City of Respect.”

Councilwoman Monica DeBrock voted for both tax ordinances.

“I absolutely do not want both ordinances in effect,” she said. “It was never the intention of most of us on council to have both an income-tax rate increase and an income-tax reduction. If the tax rate increase passes, we can rescind the tax credit reduction before it affects residents.”

Read the full story in the July 25 edition of ThisWeek Reynoldsburg News.